Interior Design Styles Primer

Interior design styles are as numerous as the stars in the sky. While there are quite a few standard design layouts, homeowners like to incorporate their own style into their personal décor, so it's unlikely that two homes-even if using the same design-will be identical. The following primer gives an idea of some different interior design styles.

Retro Is Here to Stay
While Retro usually refers to all bygone eras, most people who decorate throughout their homes add snippets or bits and pieces of various eras, bringing about an eclectic hodge-podge of Retro items that can be quite charming.

Popular in the '70s were sunken living rooms and tri-level homes. Of course, there were also the A-frames and solar homes with huge solar panels, or those that looked like space ships ready to launch at any moment. Houses were decorated with tiled floors and plush shag carpets, cutout alcoves, kitchenettes with built-in ironing boards and china cabinets. Couches and chairs curved softly, as did stone walls and fireplaces, erasing sharp corners and offering the sensation of flow throughout the house. In fact, homes of the '70s were feng shui perfect, which leads to the question of why they were ever changed.

Because the '70s were so controversial, and because many Baby Boomers are from that era, Retro '70s designs tend to pop up across the board. Changing a modern home into a Retro home could mean a complete overhaul. Start by adding shades of avocado green and sienna orange to the kitchen, where a large Pyrex bowl filled with a tuna-fish casserole-the cuisine of the day-might await a Tupperware party being held that evening around a Formica-topped table with metal legs and matching kitchen chairs. A bold display of concert posters, some with psychedelic black light features, would cover bedroom walls, where a peace sign wallpaper border would virtually "pop" with florescent shades of lime greens, oranges sand yellows. Lighting would be restricted to one lava lamp on the floor beside the mattress-also on the floor-and a black light on either side of the bed, just above the posters. Plush, shag rugs throughout the living room would emphasize the posh stage the '70s signified.

If that's too much '70s for one home, stick with a few items such as the table and chairs, and add a couple conversation pieces such as a lava lamp and a few posters framed and highlighted with spot lighting. Another way to go Retro is to add certain pieces from older times without capturing too much from one era. This is also called Hodge-Podge or Eclectic. When mismatching items, however, keep in mind the true essence of the design. An Asian piece should make you feel calm, and a Retro piece will be louder by contrast. They may cancel one another out.

Finally, don't worry if you don't know where to start or can't afford to do it all at once. Buy one piece and make sure you like it before you search for the next piece.

Art Deco at Its Best
The Art Deco era is still going strong in certain areas, such as Miami's Art Deco District, where an entire section of homes has been singled out and preserved. Tours are scheduled all summer long and visitors are not disappointed.

Art Deco is a form of art begun in the 1900s by French artists. In the 1920s and 1930s Art Deco blossomed with sleek, sophisticated lines and worldly ambience. Stark edges, spaciousness and opulence share space in an Art Deco design. A mirror-sided bathtub might be displayed to its futher advantage by including large mirrors on the wall above the tub-or on the ceiling-complemented by marble flooring, intense colors and geometric shapes throughout.

Living rooms were glamorous and luxuriant, with curved or round coffee tables made of sheer glass, wall scones, stair-step bookcases and lots and lots of flowing silk, velvet and satin in pale shades that were then draped over geometric shapes. Entrances were often theatrical in design, combining metal, glass and wood for strikingly handsome and opulent doorways.

If you are planning to move soon, however, now is not the time to design a flamboyant look. Instead, save your pocketbook and your enthusiasm for your new home.

Incorporate an Asian Influence
Asian design echoes what people from most cultures seek: tranquility. Airy and light describes the atmosphere of a home designed with Oriental décor. Japanese design uses nature as its color guide, while the Chinese capture the more vivid and striking colors of yellow and red.

Divide living space through use of a shoji screen, and incorporate Asian textiles and sunken rugs for an instant Asian feel to any room. Low coffee tables and end tables are usually devoid of tabletop decorations, with the exception of a bonsai tree or a small fountain. Other accessories that can offer the same distinct feel of harmony and peace are paper lamps, wood sculptures and rattan or bamboo furniture.

Modern Furniture
Modern furniture leans toward contemporary, but because of its unique shapes, it tends to have a futuristic feel. Examples of some modern furniture today can be found in places like Design Within Reach and Ikea. Though on opposite ends of the price range, both these shops consider space and both showcase clean lines as the dominate shape to any room. Modern design may appear to border on stark or sparse but, with each piece of furniture working with the next, it quickly creates a well-put-together space.